Sophia, a trainee primary school teacher, and Will, an accountant, tied the knot on the 8th of June, 2024, in the picturesque countryside of Oxfordshire.
Their wedding was a celebration of love, colour, and creativity, encapsulated in a tipi and marquee setup opposite Sophia’s family home, courtesy of Raw Tipis.
Sophia’s choice of a floral wedding dress by House of Savin brought a burst of colour and elegance, perfectly aligning with her vision of a Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired wedding. The couple’s shared roots in Oxfordshire made the location deeply sentimental, adding a personal touch to their already magical day.
We’re so completely thrilled that this lovely bride discovered her photographer, Harry Michael, through these beloved wedding blog pages. Enjoy this spectacular day – there’s plenty to add to your Pinterest boards!
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The Dress
House of Savin
My wedding dress was by House of Savin, from the White Lace and Butterflies boutique – I cannot recommend them enough – not only do they stock sizes to suit all women, but the range of dresses, styles and colours is magnificent.
The girls were so helpful, supportive and championed me to when I said I wanted to wear something with colour.
I loved visiting the store to buy the dress, and for my fittings and would encourage everyone to visit!
My dress was divine. There is no other word that fits it better. I have never ever worn anything that felt more me. And everyone told me that one the day – I repeatedly got told and have been told since that it was absolutely ‘Sophia’s wedding dress’, which I love.
I never wear white, I don’t suit it, and so decided I wanted to wear the traditional wedding dress shape, with a HUGE splash of colour – and the Savin gown I bought was absolutely perfect for that.
I loved that it had every colour of the rainbow on in a really classic, yet fun and elegant way.
My dad’s reaction when he saw the dress was the best – I came out into the garden, and he just said “that is the most fun wedding dress, Phi – brilliant choice”, and that made me so happy. I am hoping to get it shortened so I can wear it again.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
I was always going to wear flat shoes – I have a prosthetic implant in my right leg and so heels were never an option as I can’t walk in them. My husband is also not hugely vertically blessed…so flats were a win win. I bought my beautiful shoes from Emmy London and they are the most comfortable pair of shoes ever.
I wore Fig and Lotus Flower from Jo Malone – I went into the shop to do their wedding scent experience with my sister, which I would highly recommend for a bit of girly fun, and we decided it felt the most suited to the style of wedding I was having. My regular scent is their Pomegranate Noir which I love, but I just wanted something a little different for my special day.
My husband had bought me a diamond tennis bracelet, so I wore that. I also wore a pair of my late grandmother’s moonstone earrings which met my Midsummer vibe beautifully and were statement enough to match the colour of my dress but paired back enough to not compete with it. It was really sentimental to wear these as my grandmother was also really into theatre, and we were very close. I know how much she would have loved to have been there, so it felt beautiful to have her so close to me on the day.
My hair stylist was Lara Stokes, and my makeup artist was May Williams – gorgeous, gorgeous girls who made me feel so incredibly beautiful and were the best hype girls all morning.
I did wear a veil! It was a very simple long veil from White Lace and Butterflies. I didn’t want anything complex, as the dress was absolutely the centre-piece.
Bridesmaids
I bought my bridesmaids dresses from Ghost London – the ivory delphine maxi dress. Such an elegant choice, and something so easy to put numerous bridesmaids all of different heights in! They all wore bright blue shoes which was super fun. They all looked sensational in their gowns, I felt so so proud to be surrounded by my six absolutely stunning best girlfriends , including my sister as maid of honour – they were just such an incredible support on the day and I wouldn’t have changed them or what they wore for the world.
In their hair, the bridesmaids wore the prettiest most colourful flower garlands – they looked incredible. Because my dress was so colourful, I knew I wanted the bridesmaids in ivory with splashes of the colour of my dress reflected throughout their bouquet and flower garlands to give that ethereal/whimsical effect. They were just exquisite!
I bought them a pearl bracelet and earring set from Kiri and Belle which they all wore.
We hired two horse and carriages, one for the bridesmaids and my mum to travel to the church in and one for me and my dad. Then my family returned to the venue in the bigger carriage and Will and I went back in the smaller, Victorian carriage – it was so much fun and everyone wished us well through the village which was so fun!
I’d so recommend it, as the journey is much slower and you get so much time to chat – and t’s a bit different and fun!
The Ceremony
We had so many favourite moments throughout the day. These included arriving at the church with my bridesmaids and having a moment with my family outside before the ceremony was so special, and my dad walking down the aisle with me was totally surreal and unforgettable.
My dad accompanied me into the ceremony, which was one of my favourite parts of the day. It was incredibly special.
Our ceremony was at the local village church I attended throughout my childhood, so it was really beautiful to get married there.
My brother, sister, and I were all confirmed there, so it’s a very important church to my family and one we’ve been attending as a family for over 25 years.
The village of Radley really got behind us on the wedding day – several members of the congregation arranged all our church flowers, and numerous people I have known throughout my childhood cheered us on as we went into the church for the ceremony. It felt like a proper village wedding.
One of my and my husband’s best friends, Seb, played all the music in the church on the organ, and he wrote my processional piece of music for me to walk down the aisle to. To have him play that, having written it on the day, was incredibly unique and special, a moment I’ll never forget.
We exchanged Church of England vows and had a reading from Song of Solomon and Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare. I knew I wanted Shakespeare at my wedding – a huge love of mine.
My husband’s mother sadly passed away ten years ago, so he wears her wedding ring, and I got mine bespoke made by Fenton & Co in Mayfair, where Will got my engagement ring.
How They Met
We met in our last year of school – my best friend at the time was dating someone in Will’s year group, and she introduced us! I was 17, and Will was 18, so we had been together over ten years when we got married.
Will proposed in Porthleven, Cornwall, which is a place we have been going on holiday together for a long time and a really special place for both of us.
We have both been visiting Devon and Cornwall on family holidays since we were tiny. We went up to the cliffside at sunset, which is a walk we had done many times in the past, and he popped the question overlooking my favourite view of the ocean with our dog Louis – got down on one knee and everything.
We then went and got cider at our favourite pub nearby, and it was just perfect. Sunset, sea, cider – followed by plenty of phone calls to family and friends…Who could want more?! We were engaged for just under two years before the wedding.
The Reception
Laura at Lucca Studios did all our stationery and signage – she was an absolute dreamboat.
She created everything from save the dates, invitations, menus, orders of service, bar menus, table names, welcome sign, table plan and everything in between – even a sign for our ‘hat hanging’ line – a washing line for ladies to hang their hats on while they danced the night away – used by nearly everyone and saved everyones hats being squashed under chairs!
Laura was incredible, her creativity and talent really brought my visions to life and united the whole day – and now we have boxes full of exquisite stationery to remember the day by.
Our florist is a family friend of my father-in-law. Rebecca Stogdon and she absolutely nailed it.
The flowers were absolutely up there with one of my favourite creative elements of the day – the colour in all the flowers really gave it the wow factor.
She built the most amazing trees in two of the tipis, one inside the bar and scattered rattan lanterns throughout which at night lit up and looked incredible.
We had tall chandelier like centre pieces on the tables with small bud vases to create a really midsummer effect, and the entrance to the tipi was just WOW – so much colour and greenery to welcome people in.
The bridesmaids, flower girl and my bouquet were awash with colour and reflected my dress so perfectly. The girls flower garlands in their hair were perfection – the flowers were utterly divine.
My husband’s godmother made our wedding cake and it was so so delicious. Catering was provided by Kemp and Kemp.
I loved the speeches – my brother, sister and their partners did a comedy sketch which was fantastic and really got everyone laughing before dinner which was amazing. I did a speech as did my husband, my dad and our best man.
Everyone did such a great job – we weren’t concerned by tradition, and wanted people to have a chance to speak if they wanted to.
We’re a loud, extremely close family so my brother and sister were always going to perform in some way! I knew I always wanted to do a speech and the more traditional speeches from Will, my dad and our best man were really special to hear.
One of my favourite moments was around 10 pm when Will and I snuck off into the field. We took ten minutes to share our thoughts on the day, have a glass of champagne, and laugh together as we looked back at all the fun our friends and family were having on the dance floor. It was a really beautiful moment, just the two of us.
The tipis were all lit up with countless strings of fairy lights, the disco balls were glinting, and everyone was singing very loudly and drunkenly – it was super special.
My parents’ neighbours are very good people – they’re extremely tolerant!
Words of Wedded Wisdom
There is so much wisdom I would love to impart. I would highly recommend taking time, the two of you, during the day. It’s much easier said than done, the day goes in a flash, and you want to speak to as many people as possible. However, those ten minutes Will and I had late at night were amazing. It gave us a chance to be like, “OMG WE DID IT, we’re Mr & Mrs Steinsberg-Sharp!”
For me, the biggest thing is there is so much inspiration, photography, and videography of weddings; there are such high expectations around weddings now – try not to think of fitting your wedding into an expectation.
Really think about what you want and how you want your day to look, don’t worry about what other people think.
I loved how much colour we had and how much colour was on my dress – that would be some people’s nightmare, but it doesn’t matter – because it was exactly what Will and I wanted. The biggest compliment we received about the day was ‘your wedding day was 100% you and Will encapsulated’ – to us, that means we nailed our wedding day.
For gifts, we used The Wedding Present Company – they were honestly the easiest, best service – we adored the range of gifts and such a creative array.
